|
1 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool. 2 Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. 3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! 4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes. 6 Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool. 7 Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 8 Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. 9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 10 Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby. 11 As a dog returns to its vomit <2Pe 2:22>, so a fool repeats his folly. 12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13 The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!” 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed. 15 The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. 16 The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. 17 Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own. 18 Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows, 19 so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” 20 Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases. 21 Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. Proverbs 26:1-21, Berean Annotated Bible. Public domain.
|
